Syndrome by Any Other Name ..‪.‬

The word "syndrome" is one of those words that has slipped into our vocabulary with few realizing what exactly it means or all the implications it carries. I admit that I had never seriously thought about what all implications the use of the word carried until I was recently diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. The word "syndrome" can be defined as "a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality or condition." Typically, a syndrome will be defined by major symptoms or signs, which must be present, and minor symptoms or signs, which may or may not be present. The word is used to facilitate classification and study of and also communication about certain conditions. The fact that a set of symptoms has been classified as a syndrome does not mean that everyone with that syndrome experiences the symptoms in the same way or that they contracted it in the same way or ways.